Palm Sunday

There’s an old adage: all roads lead to Rome. The reason why this saying came to be is because the Romans developed an advanced road system that connected various cities in their expansive Roman Empire. In ancient Jerusalem, however, there was only one path to Jerusalem because of where the city was situated on top of a plateau. The walk to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was the longest walk that Jesus ever took in his life because he knew what waited for him in that holy city; joyous welcome, healing miracles, meals with friends, malicious religious leaders, and his  death on a cross.

We all walk long roads sometimes in our lives that lead to heavy endings. These ends are often mixed with positive and negative experiences. Yet thru it all, God has a purpose or purposes behind them. While not “everything happens for a reason,” we can always learn, grow, or heal from every experience.

Life After Separation

Have you or someone you know gone through a difficult divorce, separation, or breakup? Then you may want to check out our next Sunday Seminar on “Life After Separation.” Many people separate from longterm relationships, but not many people put a lot of thought and intention into how they should recover or heal from the loss, grief, and hurt associated with the separations. Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Roy Kim will be sharing about what commonly happens after a separation, how to move forward with life, and even being healthier as a result.

New Paths

It’s been almost exactly two years since we’ve Covid was declared a global pandemic with various quarantine, mask, and social gathering mandates. Things are finally opening up again and life can move forward, but life doesn’t feel quite normal. In fact, many parts of our lives feel messier than ever before. Countless businesses closed down, many relationships are broken, and communities are left in shambles. 

According to the Four Stages of a Crisis, it appears we are entering the Third Stage of a Crisis, which is called Chronic. This is the “Clean-Up” stage. After the dust has settled, you assess the damage done and you start to cleanup the broken pieces. Most of us have never been this way before, which is why we need guidance from God, support from a community, and love for ourselves.

As a brother from Perch recently suggested, “Just take it one day at a time.”
That’s all any of us can do right now. Take it one day, one step, one task at a time.

Hope & Longing

Are you familiar with the word hiraeth? Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation; it’s similar to homesickness tinged with grief and sadness over what’s lost or never was. It is a mixture of longing, yearning, and nostalgia. While this word may seem somewhat abstract or ethereal, it may be a feeling most of us have been feeling the past two years yet never were quite able to articulate. What has been lost to you recently that you hope or long for but you know will never attain? And where does God fit into all of this?

Waiting

Have you been waiting for change? And what are your thoughts on waiting? Perhaps you think its a waste of time, a void, or counter-productive. What if waiting can be more than that? What if waiting is good for the heart and spirit? God designed our lives to have periods of waiting interspersed throughout. While most people live for the “big moments,” we can easily look down on the periods of silence, stillness, and in-between. If done correctly, waiting for change can profoundly change us while we’re waiting.

Death, Loss, and Grieving Well

Have you lost a loved one recently or still grieving the loss of someone from years ago? Then you may benefit from participating in our Death, Loss, and Grieving Well Seminar with counselor and therapist Adena Sarkian. Adena works at Adventist Health Glendale as a grief counselor leading bereavement groups of family members who lost loved ones or terminally ill patients. While many people tend to delay grief or ignore it, Adena will show us how grieving well can be healing for the soul.

Connections: Living with Regret

Everyone has some varying degrees of regret in their lives, that is everyone who is relatively healthy and able to self-reflect. If you’re honest with yourself, you probably have your fair share or regrets too. But is there such a thing as healthy or unhealthy regret? Interestingly, the Bible has much to teach us on this topic. As long as we’re able to distinguish between healthy/unhealthy regret, able to self-reflect, and process our regrets well, we need not be afraid of regret; rather, we can embrace it has a part of life and a welcome teacher.

Connections: Keeping It Real

”Keeping it real” means something different for different people. For some, it means being brutally honest despite hurt feelings and damaged reputations. For others, it means being true to yourself regardless of how it affects those around them. But have you ever wondered what the downside might be to “keeping it real?” And what about self-awareness. How can one “keep it real” if they’re not very self-aware?